2) Alessia at Sismordia is in a lab group that's discussing teaching geophysics to students with a variety of backgrounds. In comments on my post yesterday, she and Chris Rowan both mentioned how challenging this is. (And yes, I agree that it's difficult.) But their comments reminded me that I know about some sources of help (or at least of discussion):

The Math You Need project. Eric Baer teaches at a community college, and teamed up with his math department to develop a course that helps intro students improve their math skills while they're taking geology courses. He and Jen Wenner have an NSF grant to turn that experience into something that other geoscience educators can use. Their goal is to create a set of modules (with explanations and exercises) that instructors can plug into their courses. (Eventually they will also have a pre-test that students can take, so that instructors can identify students who need help.) They have a questionnaire about math that geoscientists use - you can help them improve the project by answering it.

Hanging on by my nails...

About Me

I'm a forty-something tenured geology professor at a small public college in the Rockies. I love mountains - hiking in them, looking at them, studying them.
You can reach me at shearsensibility at gmail dot com.
My opinions are my own - not my employer's, not my students', not my spouse's, not my graduate advisor's... just mine.